life elevated

Last weekend I took a quick trip to Utah for my grandpa's wedding. It was WONDERFUL. Here's why:

corn dogs and waffles bought from trucks, and also winning a water bottle and socks from a raffle while in line at said trucks

free hipster zebra Provo City-promoting t-shirts at the Rooftop Concert

hanging with Kellie and my mustache-waxed brother at aforementioned concert (not wonderful: SAMMY'S. Ugh, Provo, why do you like this place?)

seeing my aunt kill it at Women's Conference with an awesome talk that made everyone laugh and cry and laugh some more. I'm still pondering what she taught a week later.

eating good Mexican food

playing games at the park with the whole fam + bonus Tribe boys!

fantastic sandwich with delicious barbecue sauce at Cubby's

going on morning walks with my mom

reading Divergent and Insurgent (I like, mostly. We should talk about this.)

Nickelcade with my in-laws and seeing my little nieces. Brielle can say my name! I will be forever known as "Cakies" now.

chatting with some of my oldest and dearest friends, Kim and Jody

final night Rummikub-a-thon and sleepover with all my sisters

and of course, the main event, my reason for going to Utah: my grandpa's wedding. He played the piano (which he happens to be unbelievably good at) while serenading his new bride (I'm not sure that I have ever heard him sing before in my life and it was fantastic).

Oh, did you want to see some photos? OF COURSE YOU DO!

Brielle! We had a good time playing some skeeball.

 Bubbles at the park: fun for two year olds and twenty-three year olds

 Nice form, Jen. That's some quality boules playing.

 Rummikub's not fair.

 Eat at Cubby's, not at Sammy's.

 Keeping it classy by matchy matching.

Grandpa is married!

now that it's past christmas, here's a post about thanksgiving!

Aaron and I lovvvve Thanksgiving. Getting up and doing nothing but cooking all day is actually a blast for us. This year, we had our friends the Hubers from church and Teresa from lab over for dinner. We did the turkey, stuffing, gravy, salad and banana cream pie, while our friends provided mashed potatoes, rolls, vegetable sides, and more pies. Four pies for five people wasn't too bad of a ratio. Mmmm. 

After all the feasting it seemed appropriate to do the P90X ab work out, so that's what we did.

kellie and laura take over philly

A couple of weekends ago my former roommates and wonderful friends came to visit Philly. We hit all the highlights- the historic, the artsy, the creepy, and the delicious (which is not pictured: gelato + Reading Terminal Market). 

 Historic Independence Hall!

 Historic Ben Franklin's Grave!

 Creepy Eastern State Penitentiary!

 Artsy Rodin Museum!

Roof deck view of the city partially obscured by our neighbor's stupid umbrella that I hope he takes down for the winter!

It was so nice to hang out with old friends for the weekend and play tourist. Thanks for visiting, ladies! Come back soon!

drop that new beat

A couple weekends ago, my friends Shane and Shannon came and stayed with us while competing at a ballroom competition here in Philly. I got to pretend I was still a ballroom dancer for two days, and it was glorious. Shannon had me try on all of her very glamorous costumes, and I got to go to the competition and watch them dance Saturday night. I loved every minute of it. It was a pretty small competition, but randomly Riccardo and Yulia (current world champions) happened to be competing at it. BEST SURPRISE EVER. Shane and Shannon also looked fantastic. I couldn't stop smiling while watching them dance, I was just so proud. I kept pointing them out to the grandma sitting next to me, those are my friends! I don't think I would have wanted to do something professionally with ballroom, but it was certainly fun to live that life vicariously for a couple days.

the only thing we didn't do was get our hair braided at that sketch salon in south philly

This weekend my roommate from freshman year, Kristen, came with her husband and baby boy and stayed with us. It was a wonderfully low key weekend. They went historical sightseeing while Aaron and I worked/studied in the morning, and then I met up with them for wandering through Reading Terminal Market (and eating the best pretzels I've ever had. Miller's, everyone, you must buy a pretzel from Miller's when you are at Reading Terminal. I'm crying on the inside about all the times I've been there and not eaten one of these), getting cheesesteaks at Jim's, wandering around Old City and checking out the water front, randomly happening upon a house where James Madison used to live, meeting up with Aaron for dinner at Han Dynasty (only 3 hours post cheesesteak-kind of a bad idea), and getting gelato at Capogiro. Philly's been having some really magical weather lately, so it was the perfect temperature for doing a ton of walking around outside.

Can I talk about how cute Kristen's baby is without sounding like a creeper? Because that baby is CUTE. When he smiles, he opens his mouth as wide as he can, and it is super adorable. In fact, I was really baby gung-ho and sad I can't have babies because they'd probably be born with horrible birth defects due to currently working in a lab, thanks to little William, right up until Primary (Church organization for kids) on Sunday. Then that baby hunger got squashed right out of me! Whew! Good job Primary!

Anyway, it was lovely to have Kristen and co. come visit. Some of my fondest BYU memories are with Kristen (one of my favorites being the late night refashioning of the Orlando Bloom posters). In addition to being an excellent partner in breaking into boys' apartments during priesthood session sort of crime, she also has the gift of always knowing the exact right thing to say in basically every situation. No one can make you feel better than Kristen when things are not happy. Thanks for visiting, Kbob! (and for being a gem of a friend)

yet another picasa collage!

A couple weekends ago, I went up to New York to visit my friend Laura who's living in the city for the summer (and maybe longer?!), doing an internship. It was so much fun! We had many adventures, from getting semi-lost in a sketchy part of Williamsburg to wandering into a Jewish neighborhood to feasting upon delicious banana pudding (>> cupcakes) from Magnolia Bakery to a lightning fast visit to the Met. 

Basically, it was exactly the Saturday in New York I was looking for. 

Thanks for playing with me, Laura! :)

revolutionary war cabins and pretty rocks and so. much. good. food.

Last week our friends the Pratts came and stayed with us, and it was so lovely! We love it when we have visitors because we do a lot of sightseeing that we wouldn't have gotten around to otherwise. While they were here we finally made it over to Eastern State Penitentiary, Valley Forge, the Masonic Temple, Fireman Museum, and Washington, DC. We also ate at a million wonderful restaurants. Highlights include Indian food (best chicken tikka masala I've ever had) and pizza in DC, the most incredible hummus at Zahav (Gordon Ramsay reference), awesome stir fry noodles and bbq beef skewers at Sampan, salted caramel budino at Barbuzzo, hazelnut gelato at Capogiro. Basically food is my favorite thing about Philadelphia.

When our tour guide at the temple found out we were Mormon he asked if we wanted to see an old Book of Mormon. Of course we said yes, so at the end of the tour, he brought out this Book of Mormon from 1842 and just let us take it into the library and hang out and read it. It was awesome.

Valley Forge was also really lovely. It was ultra hot when we went (okay, it's been ultra hot since mid-May) but you know, an air conditioned drive from spot to spot made it not so bad. Touring the prison was also really cool. They just hand you an audio guide and let you loose on the prison, which hasn't really been renovated much and is sort of falling apart. Cool! Not literally though, because no renovations = no air conditioning.

A side note: I think air conditioning is one of the greatest things ever invented.

Going to DC was also a lot of fun. Aaron and I had been before and Sara and Kyle were going to stay for a few days, so we weren't too stressed about trying to see "everything." We did see a bit, though: cemetery at Arlington, Natural History Smithsonian, Holocaust Museum. We probably could've seen more if I hadn't made everyone spend like an hour in the minerals exhibit at the Natural History Smithsonian (sorry guys!). It was so awesome, though. So many pretty crystals and rocks and chemical formulas to go along with each of them!!!!!! I think that's a theme that needs its own post: On the Recurrence of Pretty Inorganic Compounds in My Life.

Anyway, we loved having Sara and Kyle stay with us. I think I've said this about a million times, but Sara is basically the most thoughtful and tactful person I know. I'm so glad we became friends through the shared agony of an undergraduate degree in chemistry.

Thanks for visiting! We miss you!

spring breaking it

For our first and last spring break we flew to Utah for a week. We mostly hung out with family and went out to eat (I'm pretty sure every day except Sunday, we are now really fat). We celebrated my birthday by going out to eat at La Jolla Groves (I was not too impressed, sadly), playing in a toy store, having a small party, and laser tagging. Aaron also suggested we babysit Brooklynn for the day, so we took her birthday shopping with us and my mom. She was pretty entertaining at the Disney store (capitalize store or no?) at the mall. So many princess dresses! We also got to go to the temple, which was great since going to the DC one is a full day trip plus a lot of tolls. Aaron also gave a presentation for the BYU pre-med club about interviewing and did an awesome job. 

Aaron and I then took off for St. George to go with his parents to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful! We did a bunch of hiking and saw some amazing views and I took way too many mediocre pictures. It was wonderful. Also, we met a French couple at the hotel breakfast, and I spoke to them in French for 10 minutes. I made a lot of pretty terrible errors, but it was so fun. 

Cue photo evidence of our adventures:

 My niece Brooklynn on a stuffed reindeer. It doesn't get any cuter than that (unless you use the "posterize" setting on your new birthday gift camera, right?!)

I haven't seen British candy since 2010! Lovely!

 Aaron regaling his audience with gruesome tales of neurosurgeries at my birthday party.

 Eating at Guru's- Brooklyn loves Becky. And her hair.

 I love laser tag so. so. much. There is zero sarcasm in that sentence. Seriously.

 The Graham Canyon! (I begin to abuse the vivid color setting on my camera.)

Vivid color abuse continues! 

 Aaron had a face-off with a moose/elk.

Attempt at the rule of thirds.

Thank you to our families and friends for all of the fun. I can't even say how great it was to be with everyone.

birthday princess!

My birthday was awesome, but I have to admit it's pretty hard to screw up a day filled with all of my favorite people and my favorite things (cake, glitter nails, princess crowns, etc.). 

A huge thank you to everyone who made it great!

i ate plutonium

This Saturday a bunch of chemists and I got together and baked the periodic table. That's 118 cookies guys! And you know what's really awesome? We were able to pipe the lettering for every element except the Uux ones from memory.

I think someone should just give us our PhDs now.

(By the way, Mindy Kaling's book was really good! I read it all in one sitting yesterday afternoon and couldn't stop laughing. It was just the thing to cheer me up after my disastrous organometallics test.)

so long, so long

We leave town in five days. I suddenly find myself scrambling to cram in more time with friends and family- movies with sisters-in-law, earring making night with friends, lunch with Grandpa, trip up the canyon with family, BBQ party, it is not enough.

The truth is, I have never moved more than 15 miles away from my family, except for the two months I spent in Europe last summer. I am a sheltered, naive Utah girl. And now I find myself driving 2000 miles away to do the scariest thing I've ever done in my life (attempt to get a PhD), without my mom, without my sister, without my friends. I can feel myself mentally digging in my heels, getting a little desperate to stay a little while longer, feel comfortable and safe a little longer, but on Friday, time is up. Life is moving on, and we are moving to Philly.

sunday thoughts

My very dear friend Kim is leaving this Wednesday (!!!) on a mission for the LDS church to Fort Worth, Texas. We've been friends since 3rd grade, and I still consider her to be one of my best friends. Today we got to go hear her speak at church, and she did awesome. This girl is gonna change a bunch of lives, guys. Kim is one of those people who is not afraid to tell it like it is, and she can start up a conversation with anyone.  
At the end of her talk she bore a really powerful testimony of Christ and the Atonement. It was refreshing and inspiring. A great reminder of what is important in life, and to whom we owe everything.

Isaiah puts it poetically:

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:3-5

We are healed.
Isn't that beautiful? Awful things may happen to us, and we may make mistakes, but we can be healed. There is always a way out. And that way is Jesus Christ.

"And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen."
Ether 12:41, emphasis added

Amen, amen.


(basically, I stole all the scriptures Kim used in her talk. see? it was good.)

a picture's worth a thousand words

We went to Disneyland, we ate at a pricey Japanese restaurant, we talked with professors we want to work with in grad school, we went to the Newport Beach temple, we presented our posters, we learned about photodynamic therapy and making supramolecular compounds, we dance partied,  we missed a lot of school.

It was awesome.

(and now there are only 8 days left of school! and I have two tests to take and a scary amount of math homework to finish. bah.)

day 3: a picture of you and your friends

I have a lot of people I consider to be my friends, so you get to see a lot of photos!

My sophomore-present roomies/neighbors (photo from my birthday outing to Spark last March, so fun!)

My little sister. (photo from our Bateau Mouche ride on the Seine in Paris)

Freshman year roomies = lifelong friends (photo from an outing to Los Hermanos)

My high school besties, most of them at least (photo from our Christmas party a couple years ago)

And Aaron, my fiance, love of my life, and best friend.

just wanted to tell you

Dearest friends with blogs,

Sometimes I try to comment on your posts, and I get an error message. And then I forget to try commenting again later. And it looks like I never read anyone's blog.
BUT. Actually I read them all religiously, every single post. So keep writing!
That is all.

Your quasi-French friend,
Katie

le moulin

Quite frankly, I cannot decide what I think about Paris.

It sort of feels like this odd, make-believe world created for me, where people are speaking in French for my benefit and learning. I keep thinking things like,  "Oh, how nice of them to speak French!" and "Wow, it's incredible how many people speak perfect French here!" 

Yeah, no duh.

It used to be that I loved, loved, loved big cities. Staying in the Waldorf Astoria in downtown Manhattan for 10 days was a dream come true when I was fourteen. DC quickly became my favorite city in the world at age sixteen. People would say, "I love visiting cities, but I could never live there," and I'd always think, "I could! I will! And I will love it!" But lately, I think that has changed. In England, it wasn't London that was my favorite place. It was Downham and York and Aberdeen in Scotland, smaller towns (okay, York is still fairly large, but it feels small). Here, in Paris, I love being not down the Champs-Elysees, but in Monmartre, or down the little streets where all of the outdoor markets are near our hotel. 

So I guess that's why I do not know what to make of this place. One second it feels like I'm in New York, and the next it feels like a little village. Keep me in the village, I say. 

Laisse-moi rester dans le petit village?

And another thing I've been musing on. I used to love traveling (and I still very much do), but you know what, three months is a long time to be out of the US of A. And you know what else? I really love America (and maybe a certain boy who lives there). I love our superior plumbing. I love that we have air conditioning. I love that we use paper towels. I love that we speak English. I love that our money doesn't look like Monopoly play money. I love that we have trash cans everywhere in public places. I love that we have decent hamburgers and Mexican food. I love that my family's all there. I love that my friends are all there. I love that my boyfriend's there. I love that my teammates are there. I love that we have mountains there. 

I can do anything...better than anyone...! Go watch Jessica's daily affirmation on youtube to understand that reference.

Anyway. This is not me complaining about Europe, I promise. I almost cried when I saw France out the window of the plane on my way here. I have worked so hard, for so long to get here. This has been my dream since I knew France existed. It is beautiful, and I love love love it.

But I also love other things too.

That is all.

Tik Tok

So I am in San Francisco with seven of my chem/biochem major friends at the national meeting for the American Chemical Society. You can read what I wrote about some of our adventures here, on our chem blog.

Unfortunately, we still have homework. It is becoming increasingly difficult to motivate myself to do anything, such as the French take-home test due Thursday, the 15-20 page first draft of my review paper due Monday, p chem homework due Friday, two post lab quizzes due Monday, and a lab presentation due Friday.

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

All I want to do is attend lectures, tour Berkeley, see "Wicked", and get free ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.

aftermath

There is nothing in the world a little graham canyon ice cream, stupid movie featuring Rory Gilmore, "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas, and some awesome roommates won't cure.

I'm convinced.

On a happy note, I'm getting a full tuition ballroom scholarship next year. So even if I fail all of my classes and lose my academic one, I'll still be getting paid to go to school. Thank you donor!

mortal kombat...and by mortal kombat I mean arguing your way into a dollar off your laser tag game

Oh my gosh, I am so lucky to have a live-in photographer to document my life. Here are some photos Natalie took from my laser double birthday bash last night. (Guess who got 2nd place at laser tag? BAM.)

Can I just say that I am a huge believer in extravagant birthdays? I love throwing parties, I love decorating for them, I love presents, I love going out to eat, etc. etc. When I'm a mom, my kids are going to have the most awesome birthdays ever. Just throwing that out there as one of my qualifications as a future wife.*

Anyway...hope you all are having great weekends!

*I feel like this would make for a highly entertaining post. My other qualifications include: curry making and knowing how to use a torque wrench. How these might come in handy, I'm not sure, but I would love to see the situation that would require them both.

They say it's your birthday...

Soo....as of March 3rd, I am officially 21! (and officially without a valid driver's license...uh oh.)

Many thanks for all of the texts, calls, facebook messages, etc. You guys are great!
My roommate Natalie, photographer extraordinaire, took a bunch of photos from our roommate trip to Spark that fully captured the essence of what a birthday is supposed to be about:

Laura made me a chocolate cake from scratch! It won the best-chocolate-cake-I've-ever-had-hands-down award.

Tastes as good as it looks...mmm....

I also went out to lunch at India Palace (chicken tikka masala, heavenly) with my mom and Becky. From my family I received all three seasons of "Avatar: the Last Airbender". You know what this means, right? Weekly marathons. I think yes.
Perhaps the best present though, was getting that dang thermometer fixed! That's what working in the lab on your birthday does for you! :D

Oh, and, I have a little announcement.
That I've known for a while, but was so scared someone was going to email me and say, "Just kidding, we really don't want you," but this week was the first prep class and no one's changed their mind yet, so:

I'm doing an internship in France this summer!!!!! AHHH!!! I get to spend May 28th through the end of August in Europe!!!! AHHHH!!!! So excited!

Anyway. There's the update on life.
You should all come play lasertag with me tonight at 8:00, for a triple celebration of my birthday, my fixing skills, and my future summer in France. :)